Adjustable hosiery boarding form assembly



July 21, 1964 w. H. ALBERTSON ETAL 3,141,537

ADJUSTABLE HOSIERY BOARDING FORM ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 10, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet l s W NNM n 4 Too N 2 NSSNR. v U E mmEwT w i .D-RLW HJ am m T ww 2Q WLPHnmN m 60 w. H. ALBERTSON ETAL 3, ,587

ADJUSTABLE HOSIERY BOARDING FORM ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 10. 1961 v July 21, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 llllllI/Ill 'lll rIIIIIIIIIIA Iildlllllll 4 INVENTORS'. WALTER H. ALBEETSON,

S N m n o 1N SN R TEE! O A m Am+ J m E l ULE sumfi EMHAQ w B Jul 21, 1964 w. H. ALBERTSON ETAL 3,141,587

ADJUSTABLE HOSIERY BOARDING FORM ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 10, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS:

WALTER H. ALBERTSON, Lesue J. ALBE-ETSON, PAUL L. PAULSE'NJM) HENRY RICHTER.

ATTO NEYS United States Patent 3,141,587 ADJUSTABLE HOSIERY BQENG FGRM ASSEMBLY Walter H. Albertsou and Leslie J. Albertson, High Point, ,'N-C., and Paul L. Paulsen and Henry Richter, Kankakee, 111., assignors to Paramount Textile Machinery Company, Kankakee, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Earn. 10, 1961, Ser. No. 81,831 9 Claims. (Cl. 22375) This invention relates to improvements in hosiery boarding forms of the general type disclosed in a copending application entitled Improved Hosiery Form, filed January 4, 1960, Serial Number 216, now Patent No. 3,066,840, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved hosiery boarding form assembly which includes adjustable stop means for limiting the pivotal swinging movement of the forms and for adjusting the vertical and inclined positions of the forms relative to each other whereby they may be perfectly alined in both positions.

In the above-noted copending application, the hosiery form assemblies each include a boarding form and a bracket to which the form is pivotally attached and the form assemblies are supported on a carriage which is movable into and out of a steam cabinet or the like. The brackets are supported on the carriage for swinging movement about a vertical axis and the forms are supported on the brackets for swinging movement about a horizontal axis. The forms are positioned in substantially a vertical position when moved into and out of the steam cabinet and they are then lowered to an angularly disposed or inclined position for convenience in stripping or removing the hosiery from the form and clothing or placing the hosiery on the form. In the hosiery forms disclosed in the above-noted copending application, alinement of the forms is dependent upon accuracy of manufacture and alinement of the holes in the carriage on which the forms are supported. As is well known, hosiery forms used to finish ladies fine gauge seamless hosiery are relatively long, on the order of thirty-six inches, and any slight variation in manufacture of the forms and the supporting bracket at the lower end of the form will be greatly multiplied at the top or toe end of the form. Even if it were possible to make each of the hosiery forms and supporting brackets identical, misalinement of the upper ends of the forms could be caused by misalinement of the supporting holes in the carriage on which the brackets are supported. It is desirable to maintain the hosiery forms in alinement in both the vertical and inclined positions to enhance the appearance, aid the operator in stripping and clothing the forms and insure that the form assemblies will. pass into the steam cabinet without hitting the same.

With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide means for easily adjusting the angular position of the form relative to the supporting bracket and for alining thev hosiery forms relative to adjacent forms in both the vertical and inclined positions.

It is another object of the present invention to provid adjustable stop means for hosiery form assemblies of the type described inwhich the adjustable stop means is carried by the support bracket and engageable with the pivoted form to provide minute or minor adjustments thereto whereby the toe or. upper ends .of the hosiery forms may be accurately alined in both the inclinedv and vertical positions.

It is a more specific object of the, present invention to provide alining means for hosiery form assemblies of the "ice type described in which the support brackets are pivotally mounted for swinging movement about a vertical axis and the aligning means includes first and second adjustable stop means carried by the support bracket and being provided with broad form-engaging surfaces engageable with portions of the peripheral edges of the form, positioned on opposite sides of the pivotal axis of the forms, for limiting the swinging movement of the forms and for providing adjustment of the forms whereby the upper ends of the forms may be easily alined relative to each other.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of a fragmentary portion of a hosiery form supporting carriage and illustrating a plurality of hosiery form assemblies carried thereby, the hosiery forms being shown in clothing or inclined position in dotted lines;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the lower portion of one of the hosiery form assemblies and illustrating the horizontal pivotal connection between the form and the support bracket;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the horizontal pivotal axis of the hosiery form assembly, being taken along line 33 in FIGURE 2;

' FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 44 in FIGURE 2 and illustrating the manner in which the adjustable stop member is carried by the support bracket;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the adjustable stop member carried by the support bracket and looking at the right-hand side of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 except showing a modified form of adjustable stop means for adjusting the position of the hosiery form when in vertical as well as in inclined position;

FIGURE 7 is an end elevation of the support bracket and the lower portion of the form, looking at the lefthand end of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 8-8 in FIGURE 6 and illustrating the manner in which the adjustable stop means is carried by the support bracket;

FIGURE 9 is a view similar to FIGURES 2 and 6 but showing still another modified form of adjustable stop means for adjusting the position of the hosiery form when in vertical as well as in inclined position.

Referring to FIGURE 1, there is shown a pair of vertically spaced elongated support plates 13 and 14 which are a part of a conventional carriage which is movable into and out of a conventional steam cabinet, not shown. The steam cabinet is heated to the proper temperature to set the hosiery in the well known manner. The support plates 13 and 14 are provided with a plurality of alined holes which pivotally support the inner ends of form support brackets, broadly indicated at 20, for swinging movement about a vertical axis. Since all of the hosiery form support brackets 20 are identical, only one of the brackets will be described in detail.

Referring to FIGURE 2, it will be noted that the inner end of the support bracket 20 is bifurcated to provide upper and lower arms 21 and 22 having respective pivot pins 23 and 24 suitably secured on their free ends. The pivot pins 23 and 24 extend downwardly from the respective arms 21 and 22 and slidably engage the holes in the support plates 13 and 14.

A fiat, relatively thin boarding form 30 is normally disposed in substantially a vertical position (FIGURE 1) and the outer edge thereof is shaped to conform to the desired shape to be imparted to hosiery positioned thereon. The lower end of the hosiery form 30 is sandwiched n between a pair of reinforcing plates 32 and 33 (FIGURES 2 and 3) which conform to the configuration of the lower part of the hosiery form 30 and are attached thereto in any suitable manner. In the present instance, the plates 32 and 33 are dimpled inwardly toward each other and spot welded together, as at 38. (FIGURE 2), in holes in the lower end of the form 30.

The lower portions of the plates 32 and 33 and the lower end of the boarding form 30 are shaped to define a flat bottom edge 34, an arcuate portion 35 and an outer angularly disposed edge 36 (FIGURE 2) The form support bracket 20 is provided with a circular opening 40 (FIGURE 3) which is adapted to rotatably receive the reduced portion 41 of a pivot member, broadly indicated at 42. The pivot member 42 is also provided with an enlarged annular flange 43.

The inner surface of the reduced portion 41 is held against one face of the plate 32 by screws 46 which penetrate the plate members 32, 33 and the boarding form and their ends are threaded into the pivot member 42 (FIGURE 3). The sturdy construction of the pivot means at the lower end of the form 30 insures a long useful life of the form and prevents sidewise movement of the form, relative to the support bracket 20. Thus, the pivot member 42 provides a pivotal connection between the form 30 and the support bracket 20 to permit outward swinging movement of the form 30 from the solid line position to the dotted line position shown in FIGURE 1 and vice-versa.

In order to limit inward movement of the upper end of the form 34) and to provide means for alining or adjusting the same, the support bracket 20 has a first adjustable stop means, broadly indicated at 7i? (FIGURES 2, 4 and 5), supported thereon. The adjustable stop means 70 includes a stop block 71 which is supported on one end of an eccentric screw 72 (FIGURE 4) which penetrates the block 71 and the support bracket 20 and is held in adjusted position by a nut '73 and a lock washer 74.

It will be noted in FIGURE 4 that the head portion of the eccentric screw 72 is set in an enlarged counterbore 75 in the block 71. When the nut 73 is loosened, the eccentric screw 72 may be rotated to change the position of the block 71, as shown in dash-dot lines in FIGURE 5. After the block 71 is moved to the proper position to aline the upper end of the form 30, the block 71 may be locked in adjusted position by tightening the nut 73. Since the portion of the lower edge 34 of the form 30 which rests upon the upper bearing surface of the block 71 is approximately three and one-half inches from the center of the pivot member while the form 30 is approximately thirty-six inches long, a minute adjustment of the block 71 will impart approximately ten times as much movement to the upper end of the form 30.

A second adjustable stop member, indicated broadly at 76 (FIGURE 2), is supported at the outer end of the bracket 20 and this second adjustable stop member 76 is identical to the first adjustable stop member 70 heretofore described. Therefore, the same reference characters are used to identify corresponding parts of the second adjustable stop member 76. It will be noted in FIGURE 2 that when the form 30 is swung downwardly to the dotted line position shown, the angularly disposed edge 36 engages the upper surface of the stop block 71 to prevent further movement of the boarding form 38. When the form 30 is positioned in its inclined position, if the upper end thereof is not in alinement with adjacent forms, the eccentric screw 72 may be rotated to impart a minute adjustment to the block 71 and change the position of the upper end of the form 30.

It will be noted in FIGURE 2 that the support bracket 20 is also provided with a pair of holes 77 and 78 which are positioned on opposite sides of the stop block 71. If desired, the eccentric screw 72 may be moved to either of the holes 77 or 78 to change the angular position of 4 the hosiery form 30 when moved to inclined or clothing position. With the eccentric screw 72 positioned as shown in FIGURE 2, the boarding form 30 will be stopped at an angle of approximately 50 degrees from the vertical position. If the eccentric screw 72 is positioned in the hole 78, the hosiery form 30 will be stopped at an angle of approximately 62 degrees and, if the eccentric screw 72 is positioned in the hole 77, the hosiery form 30 will be stopped at an angle of approximately 20 degrees. Of course, with the second adjustable stop means 76 positioned in any one of the holes in the outer portion of the support bracket 20, adjustment of the toe end of the form to aline the same with other forms closely adjacent thereto can be accomplished by rotating the eccentric screw 72.

In the second form of adjustable stop means shown in FIGURES 6, 7 and 8, the hosiery form 30 is pivotally connected to a support bracket 20a in an identical manner to the manner in which the form 30 is connected to the support bracket 20 and, therefore, corresponding parts will bear like reference characters. The support bracket 20a is provided with a right-angularly bent horizontal ledge 80 at its lower edge and a right-angularly bent angularly disposed ledge 81 at its outer free end. The ledges 80 and 81 are penetrated by respective first and second adjustment screws 82 and 83 which are threadably supported in nuts 84 and 85 that are in turn secured to the respective ledges 88 and 81. The adjustment screws 82 and 83 are held in adjusted position by suitable lock nuts 86 and 87.

The inner ends of the adjustment screws 82 and 83 engage the lower surface of opposite ends of a relatively thin fiat leaf spring member 88 which is secured to the ledge 80 at its medial portion by rivets 89 (FIGURE 6). The leaf spring member 88 extends beneath the lower surface of the hosiery form 30 and above the ledges 80 and 81.

When the hosiery boarding form 30 is in its normal vertical position, shown in solid lines in FIGURE 6, the lower edge 34 engages the upper surface of the right-hand portion of the leaf spring 88. With the hosiery form 30 in the position shown in FIGURE 6, the adjustment screw 82 may be rotated after loosening the locking nut 86 to raise or lower the righthand end of the leaf spring member 88 and thereby change the position of and aline the upper end of the boarding form 30 with adjacent forms.

When the boarding form 30- is swung outwardly to the dotted line position shown in FIGURE 6, the outer angularly disposed edge 36 engages the upper surface of the left-hand portion of the leaf spring 88. After the lock nut 87 is loosened, the adjustment screw 83 maybe rotated to move the left-hand end of the leaf spring member inwardly or outwardly and thereby change the position of and aline the upper end of the boarding form 30 with adjacent forms in clothing position.

Referring to FIGURE 9, there is shown a third modified form of adjustable stop means for the hosiery boarding forms which permits adjustment of the alinement of the boarding forms in both vertical and in inclined or clothing position. The boarding form 30 is pivotally connected to a support bracket 20b in an identical manner to the manner in which the forms 30 are connected to the support brackets 20 and 20a and, therefore, corresponding parts will bear like reference characters.

In this third form of adjustable stop means, the lower edge of the support bracket 20]) has a right-angularly bent ledge 90 which extends to the outer end of the support bracket. The inner portion of the ledge 90 is penetrated by a first adjustment screw 92, and the outer portion of the ledge 90 is penetrated by a second adjustment screw 93. Both of the adjustment screws 92 and 93 are threadably supported in nuts 94 and 95 that are in turn secured to the ledge 90. The adjustment screws 92 and 93 are held in adjusted position by respective lock nuts 96 and 97 (FIGURE 9). The inner ends of the screws 92 and 93 bear against the lower surface and adjacent opposite ends of a relatively thin flat leaf spring member 98 which is secured to the ledge 90 at its medial portion by rivets 99.

With the boarding form 30 in its normal vertical position, shown in solid lines in FIGURE 9, the lower edge 34 engages the leaf spring 98 and the adjustment screw 92 may be rotated to in turn move the right-hand end of the leaf spring member 98 up or down and thereby adjust the position of the upper toe end of the form 30 as desired. When the boarding form 30 is swung outwardly to the dotted line position shown in FIGURE 9, the outer angularly disposed edge 36 engages the left-hand portion of the leaf spring member 98. Rotation of the adjustment screw 93 will impart vertical movement to the left-hand portion of the leaf spring 98 and thereby adjust the position of the toe end of the form 30 as desired.

Thus, in all three forms of invention disclosed in the present application, first adjustable stop means is provided to adjust the position of the hosiery boarding form when it is positioned in a normal vertical position and second adjustable stop means is provided to adjust the position of the hosiery boarding form when it is swung to inclined or clothing position. Therefore, accurate alinement of the hosiery forms, relative to each other, may be easily accomplished and the alined hosiery forms will present a neat appearance, aid the operator in placing hosiery on and removing hosiery from the boarding forms and also insure that the hosiery boarding forms will easily move into the steam cabinet.

Although the adjustable stop means has been shown associated with a particular hosiery boarding form assembly, it is to be understood that the adjustable stop means could be utilized with other similar hosiery boarding form assemblies. For example, the lower edge of the form could be straight from one side edge of the form to the other or the lower edge of the form could be curved and in either instance the positions of the adjustable stop means, at opposite sides of the pivotal axes, would be changed to provide the desired amount of pivotal movement to the form.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

We claim:

1. An improved form assembly for use in finishing garments wherein a plurality of the form assemblies are desirably arranged in alinement adjacent each other in row formation, said improved assembly comprising a form shaped to receive hosiery and the like thereon and normally being disposed in upright position, an elongate bracket supporting the lower end of said form, means pivotally connecting the lower end of said form to said bracket adjacent one end of the bracket for pivotal movement of the form about a horizontal axis, stop means carried by said bracket and adapted to engage said form and limit pivotal movement thereof in either direction, and a pair of eccentric screws for adjusting the position of said stop means whereby the extent of pivotal movement of the form in either direction may be adjusted for varying the angular disposition of the form and for readily alining the form with adjacent forms.

2. An improved form assembly according to claim 1 wherein said stop means comprises an abutment block carried by each eccentric screw and positioned to be engaged by the form.

3. An improved form assembly for use in finishing garments wherein a plurality of the form assemblies are desirably arranged in alinement adjacent each other in row formation, said improved assembly comprising a form shaped to receive hosiery and the like thereon and normally being disposed in upright position, an elongate bracket supporting the lower end of said form, means pivotally connecting the lower end of said form to said bracket adjacent one end of the bracket for pivotal movement of the form about a horizontal axis, a pair of adjustment screws carried by said bracket, and an elongated leaf spring member carried by said bracket, said leaf spring member being engageable with and movable by said screws and having a form engageable bearing surface positioned between said screws and said form and engageable with said form, one of said screws being positioned on the opposite side of said horizontal axis from the other of said screws whereby the extent of pivotal movement of the form in either direction may be adjusted for varying the angular disposition of the form and for readily alining the form with adjacent forms.

4. An improved form assembly according to claim 3 wherein ledge means extends outwardly from said bracket adjacent said lower end of said form, said leaf spring member being fixed intermediate opposite ends to said ledge means, and said adjustment screws penetrating said ledge means and engaging said leaf spring member adjacent said opposite ends thereof.

5. An improved form assembly according to claim 4 wherein said ledge means comprises a horizontal ledge extending right-angularly from the lower edge of said bracket, and said leaf spring member is fixed to a medial portion of said ledge.

6. An improved form assembly according to claim 4 wherein said ledge means comprises a first ledge extending right-angularly from the lower edge of said bracket, and a second ledge extending right-angularly from the outer edge of said one end of said bracket, and wherein said leaf spring member extends between said ledges and is fixed to said first ledge.

7. An improved form assembly for use in finishing garments wherein a plurality of the form assemblies are desirably arranged in alinement adjacent each other in row formation, said improved assembly comprising a form shaped to receive hosiery and the like thereon and normally being disposed in upright position, an elongate bracket supporting the lower end of said form, means pivotally connecting the lower end of said form to said bracket adjacent one end of the bracket for pivotal movement of the form about a horizontal axis, means supporting the other end of said bracket for pivotal movement about a vertical axis, first stop means carried by said bracket and adapted to engage and support the form when in upright position, said first stop means being positioned in close proximity to said horizontal axis and on that side thereof adjacent said other end of said bracket, second stop means carried by said bracket and adapted to engage and support the form when swung to an inclined position, said second stop means being positioned in close proximity to said horizontal axis and on that side thereof adjacent said one end of said bracket, and means provided for each of said stop means for independently adjusting the position thereof whereby said first stop means may be adjusted to aline the form in upright position and said second stop means may be adjusted to aline the form in the inclined position.

8. An improved form assembly according to claim 7 wherein each of said adjusting means comprises an eccentric screw and each of said stop means comprises an abutment block carried by each eccentric screw.

9. An improved form assembly according to claim 8 wherein said bracket has a plurality of holes positioned in said one end of said bracket and adapted to receive the eccentric screw carrying said second stop means whereby the eccentric screw may be positioned in selected ones of the holes to vary the angular position of said form when disposed in inclined position.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Coulston et a1. Jan. 26, 1915 Amsden Jan. 13, 1925 Nydegger June 3, 1941 Schwartz Oct. 13, 1942 Prosser et a1 Feb. 2, 1943 Backhus Oct. 11, 1949 (.9 Forse et a1. July 18, 1950 Richter Aug. 22, 1950 Vogt et a1 Nov. 11, 1952 Heliot Feb. 24, 1959 Walling et a1; Dec. 13, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS France Aug. 21, 1933 

1. AN IMPROVED FORM ASSEMBLY FOR USE IN FINISHING GARMENTS WHEREIN A PLURALITY OF THE FORM ASSEMBLIES ARE DESIRABLY ARRANGED IN ALINEMENT ADJACENT EACH OTHER IN ROW FORMATION, SAID IMPROVED ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A FORM SHAPED TO RECEIVE HOSIERY AND THE LIKE THEREON AND NORMALLY BEING DISPOSED IN UPRIGHT POSITION, AN ELONGATE BRACKET SUPPORTING THE LOWER END OF SAID FORM, MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTING THE LOWER END OF SAID FORM TO SAID BRACKET ADJACENT ONE END OF THE BRACKET FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE FORM ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS, STOP MEANS CARRIED BY SAID BRACKET AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE SAID FORM AND LIMIT PIVOTAL MOVEMENT THEREOF IN EITHER DIRECTION, AND A PAIR OF ECCENTRIC SCREWS FOR ADJUSTING THE POSITION OF SAID STOP MEANS WHEREBY THE EXTENT OF PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE FORM IN EITHER DIRECTION MAY BE ADJUSTED FOR VARYING THE ANGULAR DISPOSITION OF THE FORM AND FOR READILY ALINING THE FORM WITH ADJACENT FORMS. 